Strange tales of those poor rich Americans

As we approach the "fiscal cliff" and endure the relentless pandering and posturing from Washington, it remains a remarkable commentary on American politics today that the core obstacle to an agreement continues to be opposition to raising taxes on the rich.

Is it really that difficult to understand that in a time of national need, larger revenue contributions from those most able to afford them should be part of the solution?

But the wealthy control the message, creating mythologies that many Americans seem willing to accept even in contradiction of their own self-interest. Consider some of the oft-heard conservative bromides, and what they really mean:

? Republicans think the rich should pay more too, but only by eliminating deductions and loopholes instead of raising rates: This is designed to sound pragmatic and efficient, but the simple translation is that the GOP wants those increased contributions to be as tiny as possible. Going the loophole route would accomplish that.

? Taxing the rich more dampens the American spirit of entrepreneurism: The nation's wealthiest residents already are subject to higher tax rates, as they should be. Tweaking the marginal income tax rates - by a proposed 3-4 percent at income levels above $200,000 - wouldn't suddenly inject socialist poison into our capitalist veins.

? Government just wastes all of our money: There is indeed too much government excess. Government also does some needed things well, even better than the private sector. That second part doesn't get much attention, because it doesn't advance the narrative that the rich should keep as much of their money as possible away from government's prying hands.

? More money in the hands of the rich benefits us all: This trickle-down concept has been consistently debunked. And remember - wealthy people aren't by definition job creators putting their extra money to better use. Wealth tends to stay with wealth.

? The Democrats think taxing the rich solves everything: There are many elements to the Democratic budget plans being floated, including spending reductions. But Republicans mostly ignore that, or dismiss the ideas as insufficient, freeing them to boil them all down to a simplistic tax-the-rich scheme.

? The rich already pay their fair share in taxes: This is when we hear how a tiny percentage of the wealthiest Americans pay a disproportionately high amount of the overall taxes. That's true. That's also because those wealthiest Americans earn an even more disproportionate amount of the overall income, helping to create our increasingly alarming wealth gap. And even increased marginal rates at the upper-income levels would be far below historical highs.

Can the wealthy absorb a bigger tax burden? Of course they can. Should they? Of course, as part of a larger, responsible budget plan. But Republicans can always say Democrats are incapable of such responsibility - a convenient way to object to any tax hike that's ever proposed on the wealthy. We're apparently supposed to applaud the GOP resolve, because somehow keeping the rich a bit richer is will be better for everyone. It won't.

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Strange tales of those poor rich Americans

As we approach the 'fiscal cliff' and endure the relentless pandering and posturing from Washington, it remains a remarkable commentary on American politics today that the core obstacle to an

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